Thierno Barry, Everton’s potential new talisman (Player report)

It has been no secret that Everton have struggled for goals lately over the past few seasons, now that is partly down to how Everton were playing their football and approaching games but nonetheless there is a lack of goals and whilst the system played a part, the strikers definitely underperformed at times as well.

Combine this with the likeliest outcome of Dominic Calvert-Lewins contract situation is that the Englishman will leave on a free transfer, leaving Everton with just Beto and a talented but inexperienced Chermiti, Everton are short up front and need to make additions there, which has lead us to the Thierno Barry links. A breakout year in Spain for Villareal, Barry is very impressive and there’s a lot to like about him so I see why Everton are pursuing this move and I do think it is definitely one that can improve Everton.

Player information:

Club: Villareal

Nationality: French

Age: 22

Position: ST

Preferred foot: Right

Contract expiry: June 30th 2029

Barry is accustomed to Villareal’s 4–4–2 where he is utilised usually on the left of the front 2, where he tends to be partnered by someone who drops off the front line and plays a bit shorter than him, Barry is usually used to help stretch defences. Barry likes to draw out to the left a lot of the time much like how Gyokeres does for Sporting, Barry is more than happy to run these channels and go in behind the opposition but isn’t limited to that, possessing a very good leap and standing at 6'5 is an absolute nuisance in the air, winning the majority of his duels.

Physicality:

• +Pace
• +Acceleration
• +Agility
• +Covering ground
• +Strength
• +Aerial duels
• -Balance

In possession:

35 apps, 25 starts

As mentioned earlier, Barry plays on the left of that front two for Villareal and that left side is where he spends the majority of his time when his side have the ball, rarely roaming from his position, preferring to stick to his side. You can see those instances where he draws wide into the channel to stretch the opposition defence and give them a headache, which with the physical profile that Barry possesses when it comes to his pace and agility for someone of his size, he certainly does provide that headache. A hyper mobile forward who is constantly making moves to find space and constantly making those movements in behind, even if he isn’t found by a team mate initially he will go again and again.

Barry typically starts on the blindside of the defenders for his runs in behind like any intelligent last line striker does, giving him an inherent advantage on them when he gets going if they don’t check their shoulders to see him coming, if they let him get steam they struggle to catch him and he’s away. That space between fullback and CB that Barry starts in makes it awkward for when it comes to marking him as the fullback doesn’t want to get too narrow and the CB wants to protect that central space. His timing of when to make the run and his recognition of space is also typically very good when making these darts in behind the defence. Whether it is drawing wide into space or penetrating it centrally Barry will find that space and look to exploit it with his physical qualities.

His ability to create space with his movement lends well to when he looks to go wide as when he receives in these spaces he is best off receiving when facing forward, although his agility is good I think he’s best in these scenarios where he can immediately face up his fullback and drive at them, force them back towards their own box and cut inside to shoot. This exact scenario is what played out in the above sequence but was let down by his final touch to set himself for the shot, this whole sequence came from his movement. Barry had drawn out into the channel with the wide CB tracking him closely so Barry had to find a way to generate space for himself and the best way for that to happen is through his movement. He fakes a dart inside which pushes the defender narrow, meaning when Barry goes back into the channel he has plenty of space to receive the ball and start making his way to the box, which is exactly what he does.

In these situations where he does receive the ball to his feet and needs to take men on Barry is more than capable due to his deceiving agility and ability to turn relatively sharply for a man of his size. However his ball control can be a bit inconsistent, as is common with players this size as naturally with legs that long, dribbling becomes harder to execute in tight spaces as they can’t usually move as cutely, especially when they are as lanky as Barry. But despite that the long leggedness of Barry does give him a huge advantage when it comes to ball carrying, as he can cover ground quicker and eat up the yards to get his side in and around the box if afforded the space.

I’ve spoken about the flashier side of his game, with the electric pace and seat raising ball carrying but what about the dirtier side of being a striker? Holding the ball, dealing with men on his back, being a problem in the air, well as you’d expect being 6’5, Barry can easily do the dirty work for his side. His technical ability does really help him here as well as his size, when it comes to holding the ball up because he can make it stick to him quickly and set himself. Barry also possesses good fundamentals for holding the ball up as a striker. There was one example against Portugal U21 where Barry did everything right, bum out into the defender to pin them, arms out to prevent them coming round the side and because of his stance he increases the distance between man and ball, which with his size is a vast distance. These fundamentals being executed so well ultimately allowed him to show the more exciting part of his game, he was able to pin his man, win the knockdown, face forwards and look to use his explosiveness to then carry but got hauled down. Just an absolute handful of a striker.

Barry is a more effective hold up player than Beto is for Everton despite them having relatively similar physical profiles (big men with deceiving pace), but what sets them apart is the technical ability. Barry is simply a much better technical player than Beto is, a tighter first touch can make all the difference at times for Beto but he just doesn’t really have it, Barry does. Barry also has better passing than Beto when it comes to bringing players in to the game or setting them away if he finds himself deeper, it’s inconsistent but nonetheless it’s better than Beto’s

Aerial duels are brilliant as you would expect from Barry, possessing a great leap to win the ball and either flick on or knock it down. Barry will at times move over to the fullback to wait for a long ball as they usually are the smallest defenders, which is something Calvert-Lewin also does in long ball scenarios, it’s a smart and logical move that I like to see from these mobile big men. There are times I would like Barry to have more direction on his header but that can be helped if he times his jumps better as sometimes he can end up under the ball, but either way he’s a problem in the air.

Now I’ve spoken a lot about what Barry is like outside of the box with his movement, physical prowess and technical ability but what everyone really cares about is how he is when it comes to sniffing out chances and finishing them off. When it comes to his box movement he is brilliant, just like when he is trying to get in behind the movement is constant and smart. A lot of the time Barry likes to drift between fullback and CB at the back post like he will sometimes with his runs in behind, just like how it makes him hard to track with his runs, it also makes him hard to track inside the box. Barry is a huge threat at the back post because of this and his constant want to get into the 6 yard box which is what any good penalty box striker does, Barry has this want to score goals and always looks to be in the best position to do so.

This constant movement to the 6 yard box with darting blindside runs gives Barry goals and has a feeling of Barry creating his own luck for these goals that you would typically assign to penalty box poachers. Like the goal above, Barry is only able to collect that rebound because he made multiple moves to the 6 yard box and stayed between the goal posts. If he doesn’t have that want to be in the box to sniff out goals he never gets that opportunity for the tap in, no matter how fortunate it is, it is great box play from Barry and he deserves credit for it, he creates his own luck and that will bring goals, brilliant penalty box instincts

When it comes to pure finishing, Barry is capable of striking a ball cleanly but is inconsistent to sum it up best but with time that consistency will hopefully come for him and in turn will bring more goals. Despite this inconsistency Barry still got double digit goals and this is because of the majority of his shot locations, since Barry gets in between the goal posts in the 18 yard box for the majority of his shots, the threat levels are still there for him and will be there because of his movement. I do think Barry could be a huge goal threat for Everton if they utilise the wide areas effectively enough and get plenty of good crosses into the box, double digit potential is there and would be a huge improvement for Everton.

Out of possession:

When out of possession Everton haven’t really had their striker be a pressing machine who is used to constantly harass defenders when they look to play out of the back as they haven’t been a high line, high intensity side, rather sitting in a block (4–4–2) and being disciplined which may then lead for a chance to break. So what this would require out of Barry is the discipline to shadow passing lanes, to prevent that central progression and to keep the compactness of the side in tact so that the side is hard to breakdown.

Barry has shown signs of this discipline and tactical intelligence for Villareal as he is utilised in this 4–4–2 for the Spanish side by a manager in Marcelino who uses OOP instructions not too dissimilar from Moyes, with both managers having a degree of flexibility in their approaches. When Barry is being used in a more reserved defensive role where he needs to shadow he will scan his shoulders to check the movement of the midfielder behind him so he can shadow the passing lanes effectively, this scanning is shown above. He also exhibits good communication with his midfielders, pointing out where the deep midfielder is and allowing them the opportunity to be aware of where the progression threat is so that they can react accordingly and step onto them. I do like this example as it shows he is more than aware of what his job is in different stages of build up play and can carry out the instruction necessary when the ball enters different zones.

As mentioned, Everton do show flexibility from time to time OOP and will look to press man to man and be aggressive to win the ball back, this is something Barry is more than capable of because of his physical attributes that allow him to cover ground so quickly. The above shows how aggressive Barry can really be in the press, his starting position is high and the body language shows he is ready to jump onto the LCB if the keeper goes short to him, which he does. The Girona defender is loose on his touch and Barry jumps on that instantly and closes him down really aggressively, putting in a strong challenge where the ball goes out for a throw in, which has Girona pinned in their defensive 3rd. This is really good pressing from Barry as it is full of intent, aggressive and executed very well, a player with the tactical discipline of Barry could really help Everton out and make them a more proactive outfit off the ball.

Conclusion:

In summary I think Barry would be a good fit for Everton if drip fed into the starting line up and rotated with Beto, in order for him to find his feet and not put too much pressure on the young striker is he is still very much a raw talent. Barry can provide technical security, a physical profile which is very much an outlier and also the chance to adapt the OOP approach and make it more aggressive and proactive, which is always good for the modern game.

If he is to join (fingers crossed) I would predict Barry to get 13 G/A in his first season, serious player in there for me.